What Do Communists Believe In?

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Communists believe in socialism and are interested in protecting workers as well as creating equal opportunity for everyone by nationalizing banks, industries and railroads. Communism is at odds with the United States government because it rejects capitalism, a founding principle of the American government.

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Communists base their beliefs on the social science of Marxism and Leninism. They are committed to studying politics, history and economics in order to create a system of change that betters people's everyday lives.

Marxism is a tenant of communism and is the system of ideas that were developed by Karl Marx, a German scholar and revolutionary with his collaborator, Friedrich Engels. These beliefs were founded in the 1800s and have since been modernized by modern-day revolutionaries including Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro and Vladimir Lenin. Marxism helps to guide social struggles and revolutions.

Communism focuses on expanding democracy throughout the world and oppose violence in all forms. The Communist Party believes that people must effect change on their own without the use of violence, which they believe is an instrument of controlling governments and big corporations. A famous communist is Joseph Stalin, who was the successor to Lenin. Stalin was the Soviet Union dictator for many years though he famously was one of the most murderous dictators and went against many core Communist beliefs.